Fortinet's bid to close the cyber skills gap
Fortinet announced it continues to focus on training and education in the company's ongoing efforts to close the cybersecurity skills gap by rolling out expanded training and education initiatives.
Recent additions to the company's education and training programming include additional Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Institute cloud certifications and the offering of its cybersecurity awareness training –at no cost – for individuals or organisations seeking to deploy a cybersecurity awareness training program.
The cyber skills gap
A 2019 Gartner survey shows the global talent shortage is now the top emerging risk facing organisations. The expansion of the digital marketplace has generated more jobs than the current supply of security professionals can meet.
A problem of scale; there is currently not an efficient way to create skilled security practitioners at the same rate. Unfortunately, there are not enough skilled humans available to properly plan, manage, integrate, and optimise security devices, strategies, and protocols. For example, according to a recent workforce development survey, 59% of organisations have unfilled cybersecurity positions, with Frost - Sullivan forecasting a shortfall of 1.5 million by 2020.
Fortinet continues the commitment to bridge the cyber skills gap
In today's global cybersecurity threat landscape, education is crucial to the success of organisations. Creating and executing a strategy with a wide scope can be a daunting task, but this is precisely the mandate and strategy of the Fortinet NSE Institute.
The Fortinet NSE Institute was created to provide broad-based training that arms participants with a foundational understanding of the threat landscape, as well as the cybersecurity fundamentals and skills to implement strategies and technical concepts that are in high demand.
While the Institute's flagship NSE Training and Certification program has issued nearly 200,000 certifications, it is equally focused on education programs such as the Fortinet Network Security Academy program for high schools, colleges and universities.
The FortiVets program that facilitates the transition of exceptional military veterans into the cybersecurity industry by providing professional networking, training, and mentoring, as well as free publicly available awareness training that can be accessed by any company wishing to deploy an internal cybersecurity awareness program for employees.
Addressing the skills gap at scale
In addition to the established company-led training and education programs, a comprehensive training and education strategy must include strategic partnerships within government, academia and NGOs, such as Fortinet's strategic relationships with organisation such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its Centre for Cybersecurity, the Global Threat Alliance, CompTIA, and various university research programs.
Fortinet will supposedly continue its efforts to broadly and globally collaborate, innovate and develop powerful global solutions to reduce global cyber attacks, contain current and future cyber attacks, and deter cybercrime.
